South Carolina 09/02/16 cnn.com: by Sandee LaMotte – The pictures are heartbreaking: Millions of honeybees lie dead after being sprayed with an insecticide targeting Zika-carryingmosquitoes. “On Saturday, it was total energy, millions of bees foraging, pollinating, making honey for winter,” beekeeper Juanita Stanley said. “Today, it stinks of death. Maggots and other insects are feeding on the honey and the baby bees who are still in the hives. It’s heartbreaking.” Stanley, co-owner of Flowertown Bee Farm and Supply in Summerville, South Carolina, said she lost 46 beehives — more than 3 million bees — in mere minutes after the spraying began Sunday morning. “Those that didn’t die immediately were poisoned trying to drag out the dead,” Stanley said. “Now, I’m going to have to destroy my hives, the honey, all my equipment. It’s all contaminated.” Stanley said Summerville Fire Capt. Andrew Macke, who keeps bees as a hobby, also lost thousands of bees. She said neither of them had protected their hives because they didn’t know about the aerial spraying.

“Andrew has two hives,” Stanley said. “He didn’t know they were going to spray. His wife called him. His bees are at their porch right by their home, and she saw dead bees everywhere.” It’s a tragedy that could be repeated across the country as cases of Zika continue to rise and local mosquito control districts struggle to protect their residents and ease local fears. The spray fell from the skies between 6:30 and 8:30 a.m. Sunday. It was the first aerial spraying in 14 years, according to Dorchester County Administrator Jason Ward, part of the county’s efforts to combat Zika after four local residents were diagnosed with the virus. “We chose Sunday morning because few people would be out and about that early on a weekend,” Ward said. “To protect the bees, you don’t want to spray after the sun has been up more two hours, so we scheduled it early.”

The county used a product called Trumpet, which contains the pesticide naled, recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for control of adult Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits Zika. According to the manufacturer’s label (PDF), Trumpet is “highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment on blooming crops or weeds. To minimize hazard to bees, it is recommended that the product is not applied more than two hours after sunrise or two hours before sunset, limiting application to times when bees are least active.” “We followed that recommendation,” said Ward, “which is also the policy laid out by the state, using a pesticide the state has approved for use.” Ward says the county also notified residents of the spraying by posting a notice on its websiteat 9 a.m. Friday, two days before the spraying. He added that it alerted beekeepers who were on the local mosquito control registry by phone or email, a common practice before truck spraying. – For complete article and video see http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/01/health/zika-spraying-honeybees/index.html

Nevada 09/02/16 ktnv.com: The Southern Nevada Health District is reporting the second human case of St. Louis Encephalitis in Clark County. The individual is male, 50 years of age or older, and did not have the more serious neuroinvasive form of the disease. The Health District will not be providing additional details regarding this individual. – See http://www.ktnv.com/news/health-district-reports-second-st-louis-encephalitis-case

West Nile Virus (WNV):

Mississippi 09/01/16 djournal.com: The Mississippi State Department of Health says a Hinds County resident has died from the West Nile virus. It’s the first human death of 2016. In addition to the Hinds County death, state Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said two new human cases of West Nile have been reported in Lee and Marion counties, bringing the 2016 total to 18 in Mississippi. So far this year, human cases of West Nile have been reported in Calhoun, Chickasaw, Copiah (2), Hinds (5), Grenada, Lamar (2), Lee, Leflore, Lowndes, Marion, Perry and Rankin counties. – See https://djournal.com/news/health-official-1st-west-nile-virus-death-reported-mississippi/

Texas 09/02/16 mycentx.com: by Roland Richter – The Waco McLennan County Public Health District has confirmed one person has died after contracting West Nile Virus. Officials are only saying the victim was a male patient, but are not releasing any other details about the victim because of privacy considerations. There have been a total of five cases of West Nile Virus reported in the county. – For complete article see http://www.mycentx.com/news/waco-news/west-nile-virus-death-in-mclennan-county

Jerry Genesio

Author of "UNSEEN HAZARDS That Threaten Hunters, Campers, and Hikers: What you should know about pathogens commonly found in wildlife."

This is where wildlife and healthcare professionals, hunters, campers, hikers, anglers, and other outdoor enthusiasts will find interesting information about natural unseen hazards that place them at risk. As my book focused exclusively on Rabies, Tetanus (Lockjaw), Tularemia (Rabbit Fever), Brucellosis (Undulant Fever), Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Borrelia (Lyme Disease), posts regarding these six diseases will be limited to more recent developments and items of interest that were not included or were not available when the book was published in June of 2009. Topics will also include Chronic Wasting Disease, West Nile Virus, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, and other diseases of particular interest to those who work and play in the great American outdoors.

Don’t Be Afraid – Be Aware!

The Natural Unseen Hazards blog is available to all free of charge and is maintained as a public service.

If you have questions related to pathogens commonly found in wildlife, e.g. the disease caused by a specific pathogen, hosts, vectors, symptoms, treatment, territorial range, etc., please comment here or e-mail to jerrygenesio@gmail.com and I will attempt to provide answers.

"Chance favors the prepared mind."
Louis Pasteur

Unless otherwise noted, images have been provided by the CDC Public Health Image Library, Wikimedia Commons, the National Park Service or other government agencies, Bing.com, and/or Google.com.

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
Marie Curie

"It's better to look ahead and prepare, than to look back and regret."
Jackie Joyner Kersee